You call out for the future royal guard so he could get bathed, satisfied that the tub was full of adequate water. "Quicksilver!"
A moment later a young earth pony colt with glasses and a newly-hatched phoenix on his back walks into the room, heeding your call. He looks up to you with his green eyes and smiles. You take note of how brightly orange his mane was, which seemed to contradict with his plain grey-cream body. Nonetheless, his appearance still matched his personality: he was an exciting pony, and always tried to do cool things, even if he knew he couldn't pull them off.
You then turn to the little phoenix on his back and frown. You may not be good at mythology, but one thing you did know was that phoenixes were fire birds. And you also didn't know much about elements, but you knew that fire and water don't mix.
"Uh, Quick?" you say, using a little nickname you just created. "Are you sure Ash won't mind getting wet?" You knew that the phoenix wouldn't take the bath with him, but you may accidentally splash some water over it.
Quicksilver shakes his head and turns to his pet. Even though birds couldn't smile, you could tell that the little chick was happy about being with his young and loving owner. Ash let's out a soft shriek, communicating with the colt beneath him. Quicksilver nods and turns back to you, shaking his head again.
You are somewhat baffled at the display of actual conversation between a young colt and his phoenix. You shrug it off half a moment later though, admitting that you've seen weirder things before. Returning to the task at hand, you direct the two over to the tub. You remove Ash from Quicksilver and put him on the toilet cover. Neither look like they appreciated being separated, but neither complain. You then pick up the little colt and, after removing his glasses, place him in the bathtub, where he sits obediently and waits for the lathering to begin.
Making no haste whatsoever, you grab the shampoo bottle and squirt a fair-sized amount onto your hand. You then bring the gel upon the colt's short orange mane and work it throughout. The hair feels smooth as you work your fingers through it, making sure to get it all evenly. A short half minute later you're finished and ready to rinse.
As you had done hundreds of times before, you cup your hands into a bowl and submerge them under the bath water. You pick them up and bring the water inside them over Quicksilver's orange hair and release it. The water falls over his head and takes with it some of the suds. Several cycles later his mane is back to its orange state, yet cleaner than before.
Now you move onto the earth colt's tail. He willingly obeys when you ask him kindly to lift it. You thank him and squirt yet another handful of shampoo on your hand, then place it over his tail and start lathering. His tail is just as orange as his mane, yet longer (as per usual for most ponies). So, it would only make sense that this takes longer to lather, around a minute-ish.
Almost like an automaton, you put your bowled hands back into the water and pour it over his tail. Nothing too noteworthy happens, and therefore this only takes a short moment. Now you're finished, and so you take out a few bath toys (a Spider-Stallion figure, some toy cars and a rubber duck) and let the colt play for a bit.
Quicksilver instantly accepts the Spider-Stallion, and pretty much ignores the others. You take the unused toys and put them away, figuring he'd suffice with the action figure alone. You are about to sit down when you hear a shriek.
"Gah!" you cry as Ash the little phoenix flaps his wings around you and lands on the edge of the bath tub; you had forgotten that the chick was there. You sit down in piece, knowing for sure that there wasn't anything under you this time.
Ash perches above his owner, who ignores his toy and turns his attention to his favorite thing in the world. The happy phoenix inspects his newly washed owner and shrieks again, opening his wings. Unfortunately, the chick loses his balance and begins to fall forward...
"No!" you call as you jump up to catch the bird before it contacted the water. Sadly, you don't make it in time, and you hear a splash in the water. You look over the tub in horror to see what had happened to the bird, only to come up confused.
Ash was happily flapping in the tub next to Quicksilver, who is laughing at his silly little bird. You scratch your head in wonder. Well then, you think. Apparently, not only are they immune to water, they rather enjoy it! I guess you learn something new every day.
When you heart calms down from the sudden scare, you unplug the tub, put away the Spider-Stallion and pick up both youngsters from the tub, one at a time. You then grab Quicksilver's towel and begin drying the young colt's orange mane, then his torso and legs, and finally his tail. When that's done, you turn to Ash and reach to dry him off, only to witness the chick shake his feathers dry. He sends water droplets everywhere, but thankfully you are able to shield yourself with the blue towel.
Now that everyone was dry and ready, you stand up from your kneeling position and have Quicksilver follow you. When you enter the living room, you search for and find your little gift for the colt.
"Want to read?" you ask, holding up Batstallion #204: The Rise of Mane. Quicksilver jumps up at the sight of one of his favorite comics and gladly follows you to the chair, where you sit down with him and read the action-filled picture book with him.